India's Reliance Secures LTE TDD Partner

Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL), the only company in India to hold a nationwide license for , has secured a partner to help with the planning, rollout and access infrastructure development for its multi-billion dollar broadband wireless access (BWA) network.

But that partner isn't any of the major international wireless infrastructure vendors -- it's Mumbai-based integrator and technology developer Rancore Technologies Pvt. Ltd., a small (up to 200 staff) company that specializes in technology evaluation and validation, acceptance testing, operations management and standardization for LTE, WiMax, IMS (IP Multimedia Subsystem), IPTV and service delivery platform (SDP) deployments.

"We are working with Reliance [Industries] for its network rollout ... we are their technology partner," Rancore Vice President Atul Agarwal told Light Reading Asia.

That's quite a coup for Rancore, as Reliance Industries is set to become one of the most influential broadband players in India in the coming years.

Courtesy of its acquisition of Infotel Broadband Services in the wake of last June's BWA spectrum auction, Reliance Industries is the only company that holds licenses to operate in the 2.3GHz band in all of India's 22 circles (service areas). (See , and .)

And while that spectrum is suitable for WiMax services, Reliance favors the LTE TDD technology that is gaining support in a number of other markets, most notably China. (See and .)

In fact, Reliance Industries was one of a number of companies that expressed strong commitment to the development of a global LTE TDD ecosystem at the recent LTE TDD/FDD International Summit in Barcelona. (See .)

While that ecosystem is still in the early stages of development, particularly with regards to user devices, Reliance intends to launch its initial services in a few cities during 2011. That's important not just for Reliance, Rancore and any other companies that are brought on board for the launch, but also for the other BWA license-holders, as Reliance's go-to-market strategy is expected to influence the decisions taken by the other five companies that successfully bid for 2.3GHz spectrum. (See and .)

All of which is significant for India's communications market too, as there is a strong push for faster and more extensive broadband penetration in India that the country's fixed-line operators have been unable to fulfil. As a result, widespread broadband penetration is likely to be achieved only if the BWA license-holders can successfully develop and market their services.

Rancore's role and relationship with Reliance Industries
Though Agarwal refused to elaborate on exactly what it's doing for Reliance, an industry source with knowledge of the relationship says Rancore is involved in technology research and development and network planning for the license-holder, and has been funded by Reliance Industries since its inception in 2007.

Agarwal declined to comment on any investment relationship with Reliance.

It's possible, too, that Rancore's involvement in Reliance's plans may extend beyond testing, validation and planning. The Indian firm formed an alliance with wireless processor specialist picoChip Designs Ltd. that enables Rancore to use picoChips wireless baseband technology for the development of "4G" base stations. (See .)

However, Reliance has been working closely with a number of large, international technology players, including Ericsson AB, as it develops its LTE TDD strategy. (See .)

Alcatel-Lucent and Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. have also been linked to Reliance's LTE TDD plans, while Nokia Siemens Networks is working hard to win a slice of the action. (See Vendors Fight for LTE TDD Deals and AlcaLu Pins Its Hopes on LTE TDD in India.)

Gagandeep Kaur, India Editor, Light Reading